Community Legal Centre (CLC)
CLC was established as a response to the reports that people from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Refugees, Asylum Seeker, migrants, unemployed and disadvantaged members of the communities, in general, feel alienated from assessing legal advice and advocacy in order to obtain justice and access to statutory provisions.
Our role is to break down these barriers bringing about justice and equal opportunities for the benefit of the communities. We manage a resource centre in South London which offers services to our client groups, in the form of legal advice, information, casework, advocacy, training and volunteering and work placement opportunities.
Our dedicated team of legal advisers and volunteers reach out to people who have migrated to the UK from various countries and also work with those settled here on a low income. Our Management Committee is made up of people with experience, passion and enthusiasm for our work as most of them have practical experience of the issues our clients are dealing with.
CLC work with partners such as Refugee Action, Lewisham Migrant Forum, Lewisham BAME Network, Advice-UK, Lewisham Advice Forum and Refugee Council to mention but a few to pool together expertise and maximise resources for the benefit of our clients.
CLC has been set up to provide free, impartial legal advice and representation service, supporting and counselling to underrepresented and deprived individuals from all walks of life.
All our advice is independent and confidential. We will always give you an honest assessment of the merits of your case and what we think are the likely outcomes.
We offer a holistic advice service and all advisers are provided with both formal and on-the-job training. Without the support of our trained advisers, we would not be able to meet the high demand for our services.
Membership & Accreditation
The CLC is a member of the Office of the Immigration Service Commissioner (OISC) and is authorised by the OISC to provide UK immigration, nationality and asylum, legal advice and advocacy service. The OISC is the government body that regulates all UK immigration advice service providers.
Services
For advice with matters regarding any of our services here, please get in touch with us to arrange an appointment for you.
We can help with the following:
- Legal advice in matters on employment, housing and immigration
- Support in completing application forms on welfare benefits
For matters on employment, we provide legal advice on:
- Dismissals
- Maternity Rights
- Discrimination
- Redundancies
For matters on housing we provide legal advice on:
- Homelessness
- Evictions
- Appeals
For matters on immigration we provide legal advice on:
- Refugee and Asylum issue
- Family Reunion
- Visa Application and Entry Clearance
- Naturalisation and Citizenship
- Overstayers
- EU Settlement Scheme
- Indefinite Leave to Remain/Settlement
- Detention and Removal
We also provide assistance with applications on the following welfare benefits:
- Universal Credit (UC)
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Council Tax Reduction (CTR)
- And more
For advice, enquiries or support:
Call us on (+44) 0208 692 2277
Email us at enquiries@actionforcd.org
Visit us at 9 Deptford Church Street, London SE8 4RX
Our opening hours: Monday to Friday 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Weekends by appointment only
During the coronavirus outbreak, we continue to provide our advice services
All our staff are working from home and therefore face-to-face appointments are limited.
For non-advice-related enquiries please use our contact form below.
Support CLC
The CLC relies on its volunteers to support the valuable work that it does.
- Are you a retired solicitor or a newly qualified solicitor that would like to gain more experience wishing to volunteer with us?
- Do you have a day or two per week that you could commit to supporting us?
- Do you have the attitude and aptitude to support those in our community that need our vital help and support?
- Would you consider joining our vibrant and friendly volunteer team?
Let us help you, whilst you help us. Get in touch today to find out more about volunteering for us.
The London Legal Support Trust
We are supported by The London Legal Support Trust, an independent charity that helps to raise funds for organisations to provide free legal services in London and the South East. We rely on this partnership for funding and ongoing support. You can support our annual fundraising effort at this link and pass on to those in your contacts for donations to CLC’s work
We also raise our own funds so that we can continue to provide fair access to justice. We do this by taking part in fundraising events with some listed here. If you have any additional fundraising ideas, please get in touch to let us know.